Sellers: 7 Mistakes That Can Keep You From Selling Your House
Not many showings? Little interest in your property? Control what you can control + make sure that you aren't doing any of these:
Forgetting that your property is now a product: As soon as you decide to sell, your house is now a product. Divorce yourself from what you know + feel about your house and get in the mindset of buyers. They want to buy an immaculate, spacious, updated + well maintained home. If you can't say this about your house, roll up your sleeves + get working. If not, buyers will not even come and look at your house because....
You haven't prepared your property for real estate photos: 94% of home buyers aged 25-44 start their home search online. You can't afford to turn them off when they see your listing photos. Poor preparation + listing photos directly impact your pocketbook.
Short term financial thinking: Thinking that you are leaving this place, so you aren’t interested in investing in fixes/change means that you need to now calculate the cost of carrying the house while it remains unsold. Add up mortgage, insurance, taxes, utilities, upkeep, assciation dues, etc. and project that out over 9 months (the average time it takes to sell an unstaged house). That is the true cost of not taking time and spendig a little money upfront to get your house ready.
Confusing the buyer: Are you keeping your dining room as a playroom/home office/etc? Again, if you are marketing a house on the internet, buyers are not likely to even come to see your property. Using the space in a non-traditional way tells a buyer that there is no room in that house for a dining room, playroom, office, etc. Confused buyers won't visit + won't put in offers.
Overwhelming the buyer: Less is more when you are going to sell. Too much furniture, clutter + knickknacks make a house feel small. + make your listing photos look horrendous. Online photos only amplify these issues. Take pictures of each room. How can you improve the space?
Giving TMI: Leaving out pet cages/bowls, too many personal items, collections, knickknacks,etc. can all be turn offs when viewed online + in person. Take some time to put these away before your photos + keep them away for all showings. Packing up collections + knickknacks gives you a jump start on your move.
Selling a vacant home: Not what you want to hear, but trying to sell a vacant home is not ideal. There is not visual cue to how furniture will fit in the space. or anything to emotionally connect a buyer to the space.
I know that it's a little tough love, but we are in a new era in real estate. Staging a house is becoming the norm, not the exception. Keep up with the Joneses + make your place look beautiful!
